Cody, you’re right. I’ve reread my previous responses and they are indeed ‘somewhat’ inflammatory. I’m sorry if I came across as a jerk because I didn’t mean to, it’s just that I have a strong (and obviously unpopular) opinion when it comes to fanmade games.
I will try to give some insight into my motivations, and hope that we can continue this thread in a constructive manner:
* Why I care about a release date : I’ve seen so many pretentious announcements for fangames that afterwards slowly withered and died that I am highly skeptical about any fangame that doesn’t have at least an indication of a release date. Even though KQ9 has stuck around for quite a long time now, I believe that without a release date (or a release) even the most hardcore groupie will eventually lose interest and the project will just fade away.
* Why I do not like fangames : I believe that only the original author may decide what happens next in the story and world of a game. No matter how hard you try you can never continue the story in the way that the original author intended. Consider it this way, maybe you can paint just as good as Van Gogh but no matter how good you are, your painting will never be a real Van Gogh, at best it’s just a really good forgery.
* Why I read about fangames, even though I don’t like them : Pure curiousity. I visit the same forums as the people who make fangames (because we both share an interest in Sierra games and adventure games in general), so when a new game is announced I take a look.
* Why I feel that we need original adventure games : The adventure genre has been declared dead by many. For the genre to get back some of its mainstream appeal you need to attract new gamers. A game such as KQ9 has a considerable backstory and this makes it virtually inaccessible to new gamers. A new game with a fresh story doesn’t have this problem. “So what?” you may think. Well, keep in mind that you need to keep running to stand still. If you’re only developing games for the in-crowd then eventually there will be noone left to play those games and the adventure genre will have truly died.